"The Marquis de La Fayette 



AMERICAN revolution; 



REPRINTED FROM 

"The Pennsylvania Magazine of Historv and liiooRAi'Hv; 

April, 1895. 



f 



f 





V 



A REVIEW 



OF 



MR. TOWER'S 



(( 



The Marquis de La Fayette 



IN THE 



AMERICAN revolution; 



PHILADELPHIA. 
1895. 



r 



i/ 



"The Marquis de La Fayette 



IN THE 



AMERICAN REVOLUTION.'" 



Theke are few men who have been so differently judged 
as La Fayette. In this country, ever since he, as a boy of 
nineteen years, offered himself to Mr. Deane, in 1776, to 
serve " the United States with all possible zeal, without any 
pension or particular allowance," down through a most 
stormy career to the period when, fifty years later, he 
made, as the nation's guest, a triumphal progress through 
the country, his -career built np a reputation as bright and 
unsullied as that of any man in our history. He is to us 
the typical leader of the new era in human progress which 
was then dawning on the world as opposed to the ancim 
regime. Americans have never lost their faith in him, and 
feel more and more that, owing to his peculiar position, he 

' "The Blarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution: with 
Some Account of the Attitude of France toward the War of Indepen- 
dence." By Charlemagne Tower, Jr., LL.D. In two volumes. Phila- 
delphia : J. B. Lippincott Company, 1895. 



4 " The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolulion." 

was Olio of the great heroes of the struggle for indepen- 
dence whom we sliould delight to honor. The history of 
tlie lant lialf of this cc-ntury is filled with the names of revo- 
lutionary leaders, men like Kossuth or Garibaldi, and the 
like, whose highest aim waa to rescue their own country 
from oppression ; but, so far as we know, it tells us of no one 
who freely exposed his life and property in defence of the 
great cause of human freedom itself, while he was a perfect 
stranger to those in whose cause he fought. We have 
always felt in this country, therefore, a special pride in the 
career of this man, the smallest portion of whose life, after 
all, was passed here, for we have felt that the inspiration 
which made his career so illustrious in Europe was derived 
from his fellowship with our own countrymen, and espe- 
cially from following the advice and counsel of his great 
friend, Washington. 

But when we reflect upon his career we are sometimes 
apt to forget the discipline of the struggle through which 
he passed here before he went back capable, in the opinion 
of the best judges, of leading in any movement which 
might be undertaken for the regeneration of France. He 
came to us a mere boy, of a vivacious temperament, ready 
to command and willing to outrank veterans who had 
grown up in the service of their country, and yet the 
cool, keen insight of Washington saw in hira from the 
beginning the making of a general. He was not merely a 
stranger with an imperfect knowledge of our language, but 
he was a Frenchman and a Catholic at a time when no 
more disqualifying 6tigma could be affixed to any man who 
offered his services as a military otiicer; but he had not 
long served in our arm}- before he became in the eyes of 
the sternest Puritan and the most peace-loving Quaker 
not so much a great military hero as a man imbued with 
virtues which do not usually characterize militarv heroes. 
He seemed to our fathers throughout the war of the Revo- 
lution to be a man pre-eminently endowed with those quali- 
ties whieli are conspicuous in heroes of a very different 
kind. He was always regarded here as the type of self-sac- 



" The 3Iarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 6 

rifice, with an intense earnestness of desire to aid the cause 
which he had espoused, and with a readiness to undertake 
any duty, however arduous, to which he might be assigned 
by the General-in-Chief. He was recognized on all hands not 
merely as a Marquis, although his social position in France 
had not been forgotten, but as a man fighting for " an idea," 
as the modern phrase is ; restrained, however, at all times 
by the sober wisdom of Washington from that extravagance 
of opinion and obtrusiveness of manner which was then 
thought characteristic of a young man and a Frenchman. 
While he felt that a revolution was necessary here to insure 
certain fundamental rights, he knew perfectly well that 
such a revolution must be a very different proceeding from 
that which might be needed in such a country as feudal 
France. It is mainly for this reason that La Fayette's 
career in this country becomes so interesting. We desire 
to know why and how a man of his peculiar temperament 
came to help us, how he seemed to inspire all those who 
surrounded him with the fullest confidence, and how and 
why, before he left us, he was recognized not only as one 
of the most devoted patriots in our ranks, but one of our 
most distinguished generals. 

The same sympathy which his character and actions ex- 
cited here has not been felt by historical writers in his own 
country. In the French Revolution he was as much of a 
leader, — more so, indeed, than he had been here. In the 
early days of that great convulsion he was the commander 
of the National Guard, — that military force which he had 
created, — which delayed, at least, the fearful excesses which 
took place when La Fayette was removed. He was the 
author of that celebrated constitutional law, the basis of all 
reorganization of government on a liberal basis on the con- 
tinent of Europe in modern times, a sort of French Bill of 
Rights called " Droits de Vhomme et dii citoyen." In short, 
he may be called almost the absolute ruler of France from 
the day on which the King and Queen were dragged trom 
Versailles to Paris in October, 1789, to the day on which 
the mob assailed and murdered their guard at the Tuileries 



6 " The Marquis de La FaycUe in the American Revolution." 

in August, 1702. He was not merely the leader of those 
who desired to abolish the oppression of femlal rule in 
France, but ho was the head of a powerful party — at least in 
the early days of the Revolution — whicli sought to achieve ita 
purpose by peaceable and constitutional means rather than 
by violent revolutionary force, lie was in no sense an ex- 
tremist; and, as the mass of the population were disposed 
to accomplish their ends by violent mea.sures, if necessary, 
he was hated by extremists on both sides, and hence his 
reputation suffered both among those who defended the 
old order and those who strove to establish the new. He 
was no friend to the King, it was said, for he did not rescue 
him from the mob wlien he was in its power. He was still 
less a friend of the ultra-revolutionar}- party, for he aban- 
doned his country when it had fallen into their hands. La 
Fayette in France tried to assume the impossible rok of a 
moderate when all around him were roused by revolution- 
ary fury to the wildest excesses. Of course we cannot look 
to French critics for the same admiring sympathy which is 
freely bestOM'ed by our own countrymen on the character 
and career of this young knight. His reputation has in- 
deed always been at all times at the mercy of party cham- 
pions. According to one set of critics he was, as I have 
said, a betrayer of his King, a perfect hypocrite, the merest 
trimmer in his political opinions and acts, and so fond of 
hearing his own praises that he found a certain consolation 
in breaking his leg, because it enabled him to talk freely of 
himself to every one. To another set of writers, and those 
claiming to be his friends, he was a mere sentimentalist, 
incapable of leading a revolution, not fit for its rough work, 
and too timid to grasp at the fruitful results of the principles 
he avowed as guiding his political conduct. 

To them he becomes a politician rather than a hero. To 
Americans who are jealous of the glory of La Fayette, and 
who feel certain that he was a star of the first magnitude 
when he shone in our firmament, some trustworthy account 
of his career in this country — not in defence, but in the way 
of commemoration and illustration of his career here — seems 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 7 

very desirable. So to some there may be needed an expla- 
nation of certain acts in his later life which seem of doubt- 
ful expediency, and to all something of the genesis of a 
great man whom our Revolution first made conspicuous. 
"We would like to know how a boy of nineteen had suffi- 
ciently mastered the problem of constitutional liberty as to 
be willing to give up all in its defence ; how he shunned 
with great care the propagation of the unhistoric theories 
of government which were then fashionable in France, but 
to us monstrum horrendum ; how it happened that he be- 
came, from the time he first met Washington, his life-long 
friend ; how it was that, when confined in the dungeon at 
Olmiitz, he never hesitated to preach the doctrine of self- 
government, even when the power was in the hands of the 
Jacobins. We want to know whether what were intended 
to be the kind words of Charles X., spoken in 1829 of La 
Fayette, had any true foundation. " Of all the men," said 
the King, " I have ever known during a long life, myself 
and La Fayette are the only persons who have never changed 
their political opinions." 

For these reasons we look upon a new account of the 
life of La Fayette, derived from authentic sources, and 
especially of that portion of it which was passed in the ser- 
vice of this country, with great interest. We need a clear 
statement as to how far that service was aided or discouraged 
by the French government, and for what reasons. Of late 
the reputation of La Fayette in France, now that he has 
lain in his grave sixty years, has approached more nearly 
to what we suppose it always has been here. We have 
now, thanks to the desire of France to claim her due 
share in the success of the war of independence, an op- 
portunity of giving to La Fayette some of the credit which 
is due to his illustrious career; we have now access to a 
full presentation of the case taken from the government 
archives, — a source quite free, we may suppose, from the 
bias of any party animosities. It was a happy thought of 
the French authorities, as one of the means of celebrating 
the centennial anniversary of the taking of the Bastille, to 



8 " The Mnrquk de La FayeUe in the American Revolution." 

publish five enormous folios wliicli contain all tlie corre- 
spondence, manoires, drafts of treaties, and documents to 
be found in the government collection concerning tlie part 
taken by France in achieving our independence. It was 
one of the great features in the celebration of that important 
event. This work is called " Ilistoire de la participation de 
la France A I'etablissement dcs Etats Unis d'Amerique." It 
was arranged and edited by M. Henri Doiiiol, Correspon- 
dant de Tlnt^titut, " Dlrecteur do rinipriniorie nationale." 
It may well be said of M. Doniol tliiit he has rendered an 
" international service to France and America by the publi- 
cation of this admirable work." Some of these documents 
have been in former days copied for the use and under the 
direction of Messrs. Sparks and Bancroft, but to future 
historical students this unfolding of the nature of the par- 
ticipation of France in our struggle, by which the whole 
story of her connection with the Revolution is told, gives 
us a knowledge of the history of that time for which we 
look in vain elsewhere, and which may well force us to 
change our views on many points heretofore supposed to 
have been irrevocably settled. 

This monumental work, which is, we doubt not, to be 
the great storehouse of facts on the subjects upon which 
it treats, was very properly given to the world on the 
centennial anniversary, as we have said, of the capture 
of the Bastille, July 14, 1789. It was intended as a tro- 
phy of what France had done for liberty in the history 
of the world. The day of the anniversary was of course 
the occasion of a great national festival (like the secular 
games of Rome), and thoughtful men in that country were 
never more proud of her national reputation than when 
she could prove by such a publication, without vain boast- 
ing, that she had done so much work in bringing into 
being one of the great powers of the world. 

This book is undoubtedly tlie great authority for the 
facts which go to juake up our knowledge of our relations 
with France during the Revolution, and the documents it 
presents us with should l)e regarded as conclusive in the 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 9 

statements they make. It is a most fortunate circumstance 
that it has ah-eady been brought into most useful service by 
Mr. Tower in his life of La Fayette while he was in the 
American service. It helps to explain his career as no 
documeiitar}- evidence has yet done. His motives, so far 
as the}' can be understood by written documents, and, in 
short, tlie nature of the acts and motives of France in this 
business, and especially' the history of her co-operation with 
La Fayette, throw a light upon a very dark chapter in our 
history. Mr. Tower has some peculiar qualifications for work 
of this kind. An early fondness and study of American his- 
tory, stimulated by the investigation of the original sources 
abroad, where for a number of years he was completing his 
education, his familiarity with modern languages, and his 
opportunity of constant intercourse with literary men have 
no doubt made him feel tbat this great gift of the French 
government should be made use of to show that we have 
not forgotten what France did for us in the day of trial, and 
how the interests of France and the liberty and indepen- 
dence of America became welded together in the fier}' fur- 
nace of the Revolution. Mr. Tower has not neglected other 
sources of information, of course, when it was necessary to 
fill out the portrait of La Fayette ; but, after all, his chief 
reliance is upon that of M. Doniol, and the consequence is 
that in all cases where he seeks for evidence in the " Par- 
ticipation," nothing can be fuller, more complete, and in 
every way more satisfactory than the conclusions which he 
arrives at. Indeed, one cannot go far in reading his book 
without cominof to the conclusion that Mr. Tower is emi- 
nently of a judicial temper, a quality perhaps never more 
necessary than when he has to do with enthusiasts who kept 
up the popular feeling in France, most of whom were dis- 
ciples of Rousseau and the Encyclopaedists, of whom La 
Fayette was never one. There can be no doubt that had he 
answered to the popular idea of a Frenchman he would have 
met with no success in his expedition, and nothing is more 
remarkable than the manner in which he adapted his con- 
duct to the simple purpose, not of gaining any new liberties 



10 " The Mnrquis de Im Fayette in the Amencan Revolution." 

for the AniericaiiB, but of |irt'.*<rviii<^ tliose that hatl been 
tlicir iiiheritnncc as Eiifjlinhnien. He gained the good will 
an<l co-operation of liis fellow-soldiers because he advocatetl 
no theories which were not in harmony with their ideas of 
self-government. It is true that La Fayette was not one of 
those officers who burned to avenge France and himself 
because an ignominious treaty had been forced upon his 
country by England in 1763, still less that he came to gain 
distinction as a military adventurer in this country. His 
great wish was to serve near the person of Washington. 
He knew America, young as he was, better than the Conite 
de Broglie did, and had no desire to establish here a Stadt- 
holdcrate for himself and to supersede Washington in com- 
nian<l. 

Mr. Tower, with all his painstaking and conscientious 
labor and his great familiarity with the history of the era, 
in France especially, does not throw much light upon the 
long-vexed question, What was the overpowering motive 
which induced La Fayette to leave his country at the time 
he did to come over and help us? La Fayette, in acknowl- 
edging the commission of major-general, tells Congress 
that he considered the cause of the United States that of 
honor, virtue, and universal happiness. There is no diffi- 
culty in discovering the nature of the errand of the French 
officers who were the companions of La Fayette in his ship 
which brought them here in June, 1777, for the history of 
the time is full of their complaints about rank and pay and 
the non-observance of the contract made with them by Mr. 
Deaue in Paris on behalf of Congress. But it is very clear 
that La Fa3-ette was not, like these gentlemen, a military 
adventurer; indeed, it is quite certain that he, of all the 
Frenchmen who entered our service, could say at its expi- 
ration, as he had done when he made the agreement with 
Deane in 1770, that he proposed to serve " the United States 
with all possible zeal, without any pension or particular 
allowance." The commissioners, Dr. Franklin and Mr. 
Deane, in a letter to Congress of 25th May, 1777, speak of 
him as " a young nobleman of great family connexions here 



" The Jlarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution" 11 

and of great wealth, who has gone to America in his own 
ship to serve in our armies." They say notliing of his 
patriotic ardor and love of the human race, so commonly 
regarded by French writers as essential to a great hero. 
In the absence of any other motive assigned for leaving his 
young wife and the other members of his familj', his diso- 
bedience to the order of the Kinsr, and his abandoning all 
hope of military promotion at home, we are inclined to think, 
judging from his subsequent history, that the motive which 
he assigned for his conduct was the grand and noble, yet 
simple and prosaic, one of devotion to public duty. He 
landed, as is well known, after a long voyage, on the coast 
of Carolina, and from thence he pursued his long and toil- 
some way by land to Philadelphia. On his arrival, he and 
his companions were much surprised and discouraged by 
the reception they met with. Mr. Deane, the officers 
were told, had gone far beyond his instructions in making 
contracts with those who desired to enter the American 
service, especially by attempting to provide commissions 
in our army for them. The position of Congress was one 
of great delicacy and diiEculty. It was embarrassed by 
Mr. Deane's promises, not merely because no new offi- 
cers were needed, but also because their appointment in 
accordance with the promise made by Deane would 
make them outrank the American officers, who from the 
beginning had borne the burden and heat of the day, and 
who were in most cases quite as competent for their work 
as those who sought to supersede them. Besides, although 
La Fayette professed his disinterestedness, j-et Congress 
could not shut its eyes to the fact that he was, after all, 
only a runaway French officer, whose appointment in our 
army might produce at the Court of France a most unfavor- 
able impression at a time when we were negotiating for a 
close alliance with that power. Tlien, in addition to all 
this, it was not the practice to make men major-generals 
who were but nineteen years old, and who, of course, had 
had no militar\' experience. We were then, it must be re- 
membered, absolutely dependent for our military supplies 



12 " The Marrjui* de Ln Fayette in the Ainenvan lievolution." 

u\<i>u France, and they had been purcliased in tliat country 
for us by Mr. Dcane. Deane was not only our purchasing 
aijont, l)ut he assumed to be to a larsre number of French 
olKcors wiio desired to enter into our service authorized to 
issue military commissions to them. As lie had received 
no such instructions from our government and no authority 
from France to confer these commissions in that country, 
his heedless conduct had to be disavowed. We had proba- 
bly discovered how small a matter might derange all our 
calcuhitions at that time. Vergennes, who had always been 
our friend, had in the summer of 1770 gone so far as to 
induce Spain, under the obligations of the Bourbon family 
compact, openly to join in an alliance with France to aid 
us by declaring war with Great Britain, and even to con- 
tribute a million of livres towards helping us ; but the news 
arriving of the loss of the battle of Long Island, the whole 
scheme collapsed, and the next document which we find in 
regard to the relations of France and Spain to Great Britain 
shows by what a slender thread we were bound to them. 
It is at the same time, perhaps, one of the most curious 
specimens of diplomatic lying in history. It is a note from 
Vergennes to the British ambassador in Paris. 

Sir, — I am deei)ly touched by the attention of your Excellency in 
permitting me to share with you the joy you feel at the happy news of 
the successes of tiie British arms in Connecticut and in New York. I 
beg your Excellency to accept my thanks for this proof of friendship, 
and Miy sincere congratulations upon an event so likely to contribute 
towards the re-establishment of jieace in that quarter of the globe. 

I am, &c., 

De Veruenses. 

Under circumstances such as these Congress may well 
have been embarrassed, and the members who tried to 
speak French with La Fayette's companions were certainly 
not cordial ; but it seemed that there was no alternative, 
and the extraordinary step was taken, July 31, 1777, of 
making a boy of nineteen years of age a major-general, iu 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 13 

" consideration," as the resolution stated, " of his zeal, il- 
lustrious famil}', and connections." It is true that in order 
to save appearances the appointment was called an honorary 
one. Kalb and his other friends at first sought commis- 
sions in vain, but within a short time, probably at the 
earnest request of La Fayette himself, Kalb was made a 
major-general, his commission bearing the same date as 
that of La Fayette. There seems to have been a certain 
fascination about La Fayette at this time which carried 
beyond the bounds of prudence in this matter the mem- 
bers of the Continental Congress. Even Washington him- 
self does not seem to have escaped the contagion of 
that sympathy which everywhere surrounded him. The 
first time he saw him he .treated him as his own son, and 
begged that he would make the quarters of the Commander- 
in-Chief his home. Nothing is more curious and interest- 
ing about this book of Mr. Tower than the new light which 
his account of the relations between Washington and La 
Fayette throws upon the characteristics of the former. To 
him Washington does not appear as the cold, reserved, 
dignified personage whom he is justly represented to be in 
his intercourse with others. In every letter which he writes 
to La Fayette the gentle, affectionate, and tender side of his 
nature is most conspicuous, and La Fayette received it all 
with a loving, filial reverence which showed how he valued 
the absolute confidence which the great chief reposed in 
him. All his letters breathe the same spirit. Indeed, the 
affectionate relations between Washington and La Fayette, 
continuing without a break for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury, seem unparalleled in the history of the former's life. 

At this time (August, 1777) Washington was about to 
begin at Brandywine the campaign which ended at Mon- 
mouth. It was on his way to the battle of Brandywine 
that Washington first saw him, and he served there as a 
volunteer, but without any command. In an attempt to 
rally the fugitives from that field he was wounded in the 
leg. The incident is principally remarkable for the tender 
care with which Washington caused him to be looked after 



1 I " The Martjuk de La Fayette in the ArMrican RevdtUion." 

at Bethlehem, wliither he had been transferred, and wliere 
liie convalescence was tcdioun. 

It is inipo8«ililc to give liere a detailed account of all the 
acts of gallantry by which he gained distinction during this 
campaign. One result followed which gratified the young 
man's ambition. By reason of his conspicuous good conduct 
his coinniaiul was exchanged from a nominal to a real one. 
His services are thus spoken of in a letter from Washington 
to Franklin, introducing him on his return, on furlough, to 
Paris. " The generous motives," he says, " which first in- 
duced him to cross the Atlantic, the tribute which he paid 
to galliiiitry at Bnindywinc, his success in Jersey before he 
had recovered from his wounds, in an affair where he com- 
manded militia against British grenadiers (Gloucester), the 
brilliant retreat by which he eluded a combined mana-uvre 
of the whole British force in the last campaign (Barren 
Hill), his services in the enterprise against Rhode Island, are 
such proofs of his zeal, military ardor, and talents as have 
endeared him to America and must greath' recommend him 
to his Prince." In all these actions there is to be observed 
a growing attachment to the cause of the United States 
and an increasing capacity and desire to serve them. The 
period during this campaign in which he was able to show 
his zeal in their service was hardly more than a year; and 
the man who did this work of which Washington speaks 
had not reached his twenty-first year. Our army at that 
time had many otKcers of high rank who were of foreign 
birth; but what a contrast there is between the arrogant 
pretensions and scarcely concealed treason of such men as 
Gates, Charles Lee, Conway, and other conspirators, and La 
Fayette ! He was subjected to the greatest degree of dis- 
comfort during the cam]iaign, and. what was f:ir worse, to 
the insulting conduct of Sullivan towards the French auxil- 
iaries under D'Estaing; hut nothing cooled his enthusiasm 
or swerved him from the ])lain path of duty. 

At the end of the campaign of 1778, La Fayette obtained 
leave of absence, and returned to France with the double pur- 
pose of seeking pardon for the oftence he had committed in 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the Amoican Revolution." 15 

quitting the kingdom against the orders of the King, and of 
striving to help forward the cause of the colonies. Although 
the Congress and the army were loath to part with him, 
there was a strong conviction that he could induce the 
French government to lend us money and help us with sup- 
plies, although, strange to say, no re-enforcements of troops 
were asked for. It is strange that while every one felt the 
greatest confidence in La Fayette, the conduct of the Freuch 
troops brought by D'Estaing had not been such as to lead us 
to desire that any more auxiliaries of that kind should be 
sent us. 

In the year 1779 we are inclined to look upon La Fayette 
as quite as much of an American minister in France as 
was Dr. Franklin ; and that implies what may appear a 
somewhat extravagant estimate of his services. He was, 
of course, received in his own country as a national hero, 
not merely by the liberal party, but by all who were dis- 
tinguished by rank or power in the kingdom. It was 
necessary that he should be forgiven by the King for his 
disobedience in going to America before appearing at 
Court ; but the douce reprimande which he received was 
in ludicrous contrast with the enthusiasm which his pres- 
ence and his account of the American war ever3'where 
excited. He soon became the chosen adviser of De Ver- 
gennes as to the mode of carrying on the war, and to him 
we owe perhaps more than any one else that measure 
which sent to our aid, under Rochambeau, a second body 
of nearly five thousand troops adequately supported by a 
large fleet. 

One of the many excellent qualities in Mr. Tower's book 
is the orderly manner in which he arranges in due course 
of time the services of La Fayette. We have seen what he 
did for us on the battle-fields of 1777-78, and we now come 
to what Tnay be properly called his diplomatic work in 
France during the j-ear 1779, — a work which in the end 
resulted in gaining us the all-powerful aid of France and 
practically terminated the war. We are not to forget that 
the same qualities in La Fayette which inspired confidence 



IG " The }f(irqnU (!<• Im Fayelle in the Amerlcnn lievolultov." 

in \Va9hiii<,'toii — his honesty, truthfulness, earnestness, and 
courage — were jirecisely those which won over De Ver- 
gennes to the great scheme which he lia<l in contemphition 
when he sent out tiic expedition of Rochanilicau to our 
assistance. La Fayette reached France in February, 1779, 
and lie lost no time nor any o])porf unity of urging the claims 
of tiie Americans in the proper quarters to so great a degree 
that we observe that Mr. Tower is of opinion " that during 
this year his enthusiasm and his ceaseless representations" 
in our behalf before the Cabinet and the King kept the 
cause of the American Revolution alive in France. He 
brought together and set in "operation all the forces that 
could be e.Kcrted in our favor; he filled men's minds with 
his own enthusiasm; lie intensified the hatred of his coun- 
trymen against England; he invoked the glory of France; he 
appealed to the most effective impulses of his people, always 
with one object in view, — to send help to America." He 
was soon appointed, through the influence of the Queen, to 
the conuiiand of a regiment in the King's service, and for 
several months he was in constant association with De Ver- 
gennes, aiding him in making arrangements for the second 
expedition. It would seem that La Fayette had some ex- 
pectation that he would be appointed to the command of 
this army; but his youth, as well as his comparatively low 
rank in the French army, did not permit the authorities to 
place him, according to French military traditions, in such 
a position. Rochambeau was a veteran and a thorough 
disciplinarian, and the result of the campaign fully justified 
his selection. This was only one of the many occasions on 
which La Fayette took an active part in the etfort to weaken 
the power of England, although it cost him constant self- 
denial and the sacrifice of his pretensions as a soldier. 
During the year 1779 an attem[it was made by the French 
authorities to foment a rebellion in Ireland as well as to 
organize on a grand scale a scheme for the invasion of 
England. For this latter purpose a large army had been 
collected in Normandy, which was to be conveyed to Eng- 
land, a formidable combined fleet of France and Spain 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 17 

serving as an escort to the expedition. Both of these 
schemes (in which La Fayette acted as aide marechal-general 
des logis, or quartermaster-general) came to naught, and 
then the important expedition of Rochambeau was made 
ready for embarkation. The suggestion that tliis army 
should be sent came from Vergennes, although Congress 
had not asked for a re-enforcement of French troops, for 
reasons which have been already given. 

The instructions given to the Count de Rochambeau for 
the conduct of this expedition, and especially for his constant 
co-operation with the troops of Washington, were prepared 
by La Fayette. If the re-enforcement which the French sent 
us at that time was of any real service in the campaign which 
culminated in the successful siege of Yorktown, if the com- 
mander particularly showed special wisdom in following the 
instructions which directed him to put his forces under the 
immediate command of Washington, the credit is chiefly, 
we should never forget, due to La Fayette, whose influence 
was based on the knowledge of the Americans which he 
had acquired during his residence in this country and to 
his determination to avoid the causes of irritation which 
had made D'Estaing's eftbrt to help us a failure. But he 
was not satisfied with warning Rochambeau of the possi- 
bility of being embarrassed in his operations by the ab- 
sence of sympathy on the part of the Americans. On this 
point the French general was made fully aware of the 
obstacles he had to encounter. La Fayette determined to 
return to America and to use to the utmost his influence 
for the success of the expedition ; to employ not only all 
his zeal, but all the skill which he had acquired by ex- 
perience for disabusing the Americans of the prejudices 
which they would certainly feel when called to act in co- 
operation with the French. He reached Boston in April, 
1780, and at once sought the General-in-Chief, who was 
then encamped at Morristown. The character of the re- 
enforcements soon to arrive, and the determination of the 
French government to place them completely under the 
control of Washington (the suggestion of La Fayette), as 



18 " The Marqim dc La FaycUe in (he American RevoltUion." 

well ns the general dispositioti of the King and the ministry 
in regard to the aid tiiey were to give us, must have been 
particularly grateful to Washington at that gloomy time, 
when our domestic resoiirces seemed so badly managed that 
we had nearly' reached the point of exhaustion. At that 
time, as La Fayette said in a letter to President Reed, of 
Pennsylvania, " An army reduced to nothing, that wants 
provisions, that has not one of the necessary means to make 
war ! Such is the situation wherein I found our troops, 
and however prepared I might be for this unhappy sight 
by our past distresses, I confess that I had no idea of such 
an extremity." La Fayette was sent by Wiishington, as a 
most confidential agent and interpreter of his wishes, to 
Rochambeau and the Chevalier de Ternay, with instructions 
that the fleet should leave Newport at once and endeavor, 
in co-operation with his own forces, to reduce New York. 
But he found the French fleet blockaded by Ailmiral Graves 
at Newport, and of course the French commander was un- 
able to follow these instructions. The English having 
abandoned their plan of reconquering Rhode Island, how- 
ever, an effort was made to secure the co-operation of the 
French in an attack on New York. The result was that, 
notwithstanding all the efforts of La Faj'ctte to accomplish 
this object, it was found impossible to secure the aid of the 
French squadron and troops, and hence it was found neces- 
sary for the time to abandon the project. 

All this disappointment, as tlie only result so far of the 
intervention of France, it was hard for both La Fayette 
and Washington to bear patiently, but they were men 
neither of whom ever permitted himself to despair of the 
republic. La Fayette was soon appointed to the command 
of a body of choice troops, who were sent to the tide-water 
rivers of Virginia in order to capture Arnold, who had 
been sent there on what was apparently a simple maraud- 
ing expedition, and whose capture appears at all times to 
have been the most burning desire of Washington's heart. 
AVhile this expedition was in preparation, La Fayette, never 
inactive, was urging Vergennes to send the Americans tho 



" The. Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 19 

money of which thejwere so sorely in need, and commend- 
ing John Laurens, the agent of Congress, to the favorable 
reception of the French cabinet. He at last embarked his 
troops at the Head of Elk; but here again the jealousy or 
inactivity of the French squadron under Des Touches de- 
feated his plans. He was so long in reaching the entrance 
of Chesapeake Bay that he was unable to succor La Fayette's 
expedition against Arnold. A serious engagement between 
the fleets had so much injured both that neither could much 
aid the land forces until they were repaired. La Fayette 
was then directed again to march into Virginia, this time 
not merely to protect that State against the raids made by 
the enemy, but also to succor General Greene, who was 
then retiring before Cornwallis. It was utterl}- impossible 
for his small array to take the field until the men were 
properly clothed ; but such was the penury of the treasury, 
and such the disinterested patriotism of La Fayette, that he 
borrowed in Baltimore for the public service two thousand 
guineas, giving his private obligation to return the money. 
At this very time of extreme distress it may be said that 
Louis XVI. had agreed to advance to the United States six 
millions of livres toiirnois, and to direct the Comte de Grasse, 
in command of the French squadron in the West Indies, to 
cruise ofi'the coast of America during the next autumn. It 
was hoped that this fleet, co-operating with the other forces 
in that region, would interrupt the communication between 
the British forces in Virginia and their squadron at New 
York. Little could La Fayette or any friend of indepen- 
dence feel that when he was setting out on his Virginia ex- 
pedition he was entering upon the beginning of the end of 
the American war. 

One of the most valuable portions of Mr. Tower's book 
is his description of this campaign in Virginia. It is im- 
possible here to follow him into all the details of La 
Fayette's operations, but this minute and accurate account 
of his wearisome marches with a very inadequate force, his 
main object being rather to defeat the plundering schemes 
of the enemy than to bring him into action, proves, if any 



20 " The Marquis de Im Faydte in the American BevoliUion." 

proof was iieedt'd, liow competent La Fayette was at that 
time to be placed in charge of an independent command. 
His movements, delineated upon clear and admirable maps, 
can be traced in Mr. Tower's book from day to day without 
diflioulty. At no time, even after he was joined by Wajne 
with his eight hundred Pcnusylvanians, did his force ex- 
ceed a greater number than two thousaml eft'ectives ; yet 
with this little army he succeeded in driving Coriiwallis to 
Yorktown, where the French army and the French fleet, 
at last in co-operation with our forces, cut him off from all 
succor and forced liim to surrender. 

The details of these marches and countermarches through 
the swamps and forests of Virginia are extremely well de- 
scribed. It is true that La Fayette failed in liis efforts to 
prevent the junction of Cornwallis and Arnold at Peters- 
burg ; that he was obliged to evacuate Richmond, which soon 
afterwards was burned by the enemy: that he found it impos- 
sible to collect for his assistance any large body of Virginia 
militia ; still, he persisted in actively pursuing the predatory 
bands of the enemy and liarassing the small parties of his 
troops which were sent on expeditions to destroy the mili- 
tary stores. His letters are full of his desire that he should 
be soon joined by "Wayne, and his firm conviction evidently 
was that with their united force they could soon bring to a 
close the partisan warfare waged by Cornwallis in Virginia. 
He little knew that at this very time Wayne was striving to 
gather together at York, Pennsylvania, the regiments with 
which he was ordered to help him, in the face of difficulties 
almost insuperable ; that he was surrounded by mutinous sol- 
diers incensed beyond endurance because neither the pay nor 
the clothing which had been promised them on their enlist- 
ment bad been provided, and that before he could reduce his 
soldiers to discipline he had been forced to hang several of 
the mutineers. In the mean time, of course, disaster over- 
took the troops of La Fayette ; but what else was to be ex- 
pected when the eneniy outnumbered him so greatly? 
Wayne finally joined him on the south side of the Rappa- 
hannock, on the 10th of June, with three Pennsylvania 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 21 

regiments and a detachment of artillery consisting of six 
field-pieces. As soon as he was joined by "Wayne's troops 
he marched to the south and put an end to the kind of war- 
fare in which the enemy had been engaged. As Mr. Tower 
says, " It was the presence of La Fayette with his little 
band which interrupted the destruction of public stores and 
disappointed Coruwallis in the results of his expedition. It 
was indeed he, with his cautious movements, his never-fail- 
ing watchfulness, his soldierly conduct, and his skill in 
manoeuvring in the face of his antagonist, which prevented 
the complete subjugation of the country." As soon as he 
was joined by Wayne, Cornwallis seemed to have changed 
places with him, evacuating Richmond, and keeping down 
the Peninsula towards "Williamsburg, followed closely by 
the Americans. The skirmishes along this route were fre- 
quent, and, if they did nothing else, they made vain the boast 
of Cornwallis that he had conquered Virginia. Wayne's 
men, and particularly Butler's regiment, seem to have had 
their full share of the glory reaped on these occasions. 
The battle of Green Spring, fought on the 6th of July, was 
the most formidable engagement between Cornwallis and La 
Fayette during the campaign, and it shows to what perfec- 
tion of discipline the Marquis had brought his Continental 
troops during the wearisome marches of the last few months 
in "V^irginia. La Fayette followed closely on the rear of 
the British force to Williamsburg, and it was soon reported 
that Cornwallis was about to cross the James River, or 
rather that a large portion of his force had already done 
so. "Under this impression a detachment of the American 
army was sent forward under General Wayne to reconnoitre 
the position of the rear-guard, and if occasion offered to 
attack it. This detachment had driven in some outlying 
parties of cavalry next the pickets, when La Fayette, to as- 
sure himself of the nature of the force he was about to 
attack, reached by a circuitous route a hill, from the sum- 
mit of which he discovered the whole British army arrayed 
in line, the force in front of Wayne constituting only a 
small portion of it. He returned instantly to Wayne with 



22 " The ManjuiH de Lii Fayeile in the Ainericdti Revolution." 

this infonnatioi), and found liini liotly enj;agcd with the 
advaiicc-guunl and the whole British force coming on to 
aid tlicni. Tiie flanks of the Americans were already 
turned, and they were in imminent danger. It was then 
that Wayne, with his gallant Pennsylvanians commanded by 
Butler, Ilarmar, and Stewart, " with the instinct of a leader 
and the courage of a lion," determined to advance and 
charge, although the enemy's troops numbered five times 
as many as his own. lie succeeded so far as to escape the 
consequences of such a surprise, and retreated across the 
swam]), where his command joined the militia wlio had not 
been in the combat. 

This charge at Green Spring has always been looked 
npon as, next to the assault at Stony Point, the most bril- 
liant example of the characteristics of Wayne's military 
genius. He was, it must be remembered, in no way respon- 
sible for being so near the British army as it turned out 
that he was. While liis superior officer, La Fayette, was 
reconnoitring, he was confronted by what all supposed to 
be a small force, but whicli proved to be the whole British 
army. Under the circumstances he was forced to surrender 
or to charge, and cliarge he did on his own responsibility 
and without orders. Certainly the glory of La Fayette rests 
on too solid a foundation to make it necessary to ascribe to 
liim in any way the credit which may be due to this won- 
derful exploit of Wayne. 

We have no room to enlarge upon the anxieties caused 
during this eventful summer by the fear that Cornwallis, 
who had reached Portsmouth in safety, might give further 
trouble by an attack on some point where he was least ex- 
pected. Meantime the British commander, under the orders 
of Sir Henry Clinton at New York, had taken post at 
Yorktown, and La Fayette's heart was gladdened by the 
arrival of the fleet of the Comte de Grasse and the confi- 
dential message from Washington that he, with the army 
of Rochambeau, would march to Virginia, and, in co-opera- 
tion with the French fleet and the troops which it had 
brought and La Favette's war-worn veterans, share in the 



^.^''■ 



" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 23 

glory of the siege of Yorktown, by which the war, it was 
hoped, would be brought to a close. 

The plans of Washington for the co-operation of the 
French forces with his own proved successful, his army, 
accompanied by the French troops under Rochambeau, 
having reached the mouth of the James River, where they 
were met by a portion of the French fleet from Newport 
and the West India squadron under the Comte de Grasse, 
with more than three thousand troops under Saint-Simon 
and the troops under La Fayette. Cornwallis found him- 
self completely entrapped at Yorktown, and, after trying 
to make a resistance, — hopeless from the first, — surren- 
dered. With the surrender at Yorktown, La Fayette's 
militar}- services to the United States ceased, and the first 
chapter of one of the most eventful lives of the past cen- 
tury was brought to a close. We must leave him here in 
all the fulness and freshness of the fame he had acquired 
in aiding to bring into existence the j-oungest and not the 
least powerful of the great nations of the world. 

And we cannot close without congratulating all students 
of American history that Mr. Tower has set the example 
which they have long looked for with hopeless desire, — 
that of a man who knows how history should be written, 
and who does not shrink from the labor of going to the 
original sources of the story which he has to tell. 

Charles J. Stille. 



LIBRftRV OF CONGRESS 



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